Bentley Goes Racing

It has been several years since we’ve had the opportunity to drive—maybe that should be pilot—a Bentley, but our recollection is that it is the most sumptuous and powerful car we’ve ever been in. There have been more sumptuous cars in terms of amenities (e.g., the new Mercedes S-Class comes to mind) and there have been more powerful cars in terms of, well, as Iggy might put it, raw power (e.g., the new Dodge Challenger, with the Hellcat engine that produces 707 hp vs. the 500 hp of the Continental GT V8).

This is the Continental GT3-R, which will reportedly cost on the order of £ 240,000

That said, the Bentley cars are nothing if not notable in many ways. Including what’s done with them.

Because racing is the sort of thing that vehicle manufacturers do to validate their bona fides, Bentley races. In the Blancpain Endurance Series. As of right now, the #7 Continental GT3 is leading the points in that series.

This Saturday, July 26, they will be on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium for the Total 24 Hours of Spa.

The Continental GT3 is built by Bentley’s motorsport team in conjunction with M-Sport, a racing organization best known for its activities in rally racing. Somehow the Ford Focus RS WRC seems a long, long way from the GT3, but racing is racing.

Racing at Goodwood

What is rather amusing (in a droll British sense, mind you) is that one of the sponsors of the Continental GT3 racing program is Naim Audio, a British purveyor of high-end audio systems.

Somehow we can imagine the drivers in Belgium rolling along in their GT3 with a bit of Handel’s Water Music cranked up to 11. . . .